A new study published in the journal BMJ Open has identified predictors of early death in patients diagnosed with colon cancer.
Researchers used a retrospective case-control design to compare characteristics of patients diagnosed with colon cancer in a UK region (2005-2010) and died within three months of diagnosis (cases) with patients who survived between six and 36 months (controls).
The findings showed social isolation as a common characteristic of early death in patients with colon cancer. Independent predictors of early death included old age, being unmarried and living alone (odds ratio [OR],1.64; 95% CI, 1.07-2.50), living in deprivation (OR, 2.64; 95% CI, 1.15-6.06), living in a rural as opposed to urban area (OR, 1.96; 95% CI, 1.21-3.17) and being underweight compared with normal weight or obese (OR, 3.99; 95% CI, 1.14-14.0).
“Several factors typically associated with social isolation were a recurring theme in patients who died early from colon cancer. This association is unexplained by clinical or diagnostic pathway characteristics. Socially isolated patients are a key target group to improve outcomes of the worst surviving patients, but further investigation is required to determine if being isolated itself is actually a cause of early death from colon cancer,” the authors wrote.
